When it comes to the 2009 NCAA men's lacrosse national title game between Syracuse and Cornell, a classic from any view, that really depends on who you are asking.

I'm sure Kenny Nims is a believer in that expression.

Nims, who led the nation in points per game coming in to the national championship game, waited until there was four seconds left in the game to score, capping one of the most unreal sequences in modern lacrosse history,and ended up the game's most outstanding player with that lone goal in the box score.

The story of Cody Jamieson's wait is a famous one by now. Jamieson sat out much of the regular season before he was even allowed to walk on the field in a game that counted instead of yet another practice. He ended up scoring the deciding goal in the 10-9 overtime victory over Cornell that made Jamieson's dream come true and made Syracuse the national champion for a record 11th time.

I'd say that moment makes all that time spent watching from the sidelines worth the wait.

Worth the wait. That's just it.

Cornell fans thought their long wait had come to an end...

They thought another lacrosse championship was on the way to Ithaca, the first since 1977, and they had every reason to believe that as Cornell had controlled the game for 56 minutes.

Four. Minutes. To. Go. With a 9-6 lead. And Syracuse seemingly stuck in neutral. It was all coming together.

Four minutes of time on the Gillette Stadium clock made that long wait at least another year longer for Big Red fans.

In those four minutes, Syracuse overcame a three-goal Cornell lead, which seemed like a thirty-goal lead with the ball control and long possessions the Big Red had in the second half, and sent the game into overtime with four seconds left on Nims' lone goal of the game.

Let's pause right there and give that play its proper due.

The sequence that led up to Nims' goal may be the most incredible thing to happen on a lacrosse field Syracuse fans have seen since the "Air Gait".

What made the "Air Gait" such an epic play was you couldn't believe what you just saw. To hear the story told again sounds like an urban legend. An old fish story.

Come on! He did not leap from behind the net and score! You are full if it!!

The last 30 seconds of this game matches that "eyes bugging out of your head" surprise. There were so many times the sequence should have ended and Cornell would have been national champions because of it.

Dick Blume/The Post-Standard 2009

First of all, there was the relentless ride by SU attackers to get the ball for one more chance at the net. Cornell should have just chucked the ball up field to burn clock. They couldn't even get that done.

The ball was knocked free and Stephen Keogh found it in his stick. First Team All-American defense man Matt Moyer was on him. Didn't matter. Keogh looked up field and threw a breathtaking over-the-shoulder pass to Matt Abbott.

Abbott was eventually met by two charging Cornell defenders determined to knock the ball, or him for that matter, to the ground. Now, Matt Abbott is a big kid and knows how to take a hit with the best of the them, but I still can't believe he managed to not only get the ball free, but to manage a pass at all with his body in the air and twisting away from his intended target. He got the ball away. Kenny Nims was his target.

Nims waited on the crease for the ball. Less that 10 seconds remained. A crowd of 42,000 plus in person and many more on television held its breath.

Now, if you didn't believe in fate before this game, the last part of this play has to have you one step closer to becoming a believer.

Before the ball reached Nims, Cornell midfielder Roy Lang managed to get a stick on Abbott's pass.

Like the clear that never was, the pass by Keogh that somehow found a lane it shouldn't have, and the two defenders in Abbott's face that should have knocked the ball loose, this was another opportunity for SU's 11th national title to remain somewhere in the future and Cornell's first since 1977 to finally happen.

Right here. Right now. Roy Lang, not Kenny Nims, is the hero.

As we all know by now, the deflection wasn't good enough. Nims got the ball.

With a defender near by and former teammate Jake Myers to beat, Nims made sure to take his time, not easy to do with four seconds to go, and do what every lacrosse player is taught from a young age...put it where the goalie isn't.

AP

Rope moved. Nims scored. Tie game. 9-9.

It is easy in hindsight to say it was all over at this point, but it was over at that point.

Even when Cornell won the face off and headed down the field, you could feel any and all momentum in this game had shifted to Syracuse.

Sid Smith made that feeling a strong one as he knocked the ball loose from Cornell's Ryan Hurley. Smith flipped it to Abbott (who else?) who found Dan Hardy who found Cody Jamieson who found a national title with his OT goal.

That whole sequence was so unbelievable, it could qualify as one of those "Where Amazing Happens" NBA commercials.

While Syracuse lax fans are certainly beside themselves with joy over this win, I think I speak for a majority when I say there is a big piece of my heart that feels terrible for Cornell here.

While lacrosse is still one of the fastest growing sports in the country, there is still a "small-town feel" to the game. Lacrosse fans and lacrosse players are a close-nit bunch who look out for each other and do what they can to grow the game.

This would have been a story book ending for Cornell. The story lines were dripping off the page.

Cornell wins its first national title since 1977.

West Genny grad and CNY product Jeff Tambroni grabs a national title for Cornell vs Syracuse, the 800-pound gorilla of CNY lacrosse that he has managed to over come and recruit some incredible talent to Cornell.

Former Syracuse goalie Jake Myers transfers to Cornell and beats his old team for a national title.

They go on and on folks.

For what it is worth Cornell fans, the Syracuse-Cornell rivalry just got about 400 degrees hotter and you get the distinct feeling this won't be the last time these two will meet for a national title. Jeff Tambroni has done an amazing job building this program back to an elite level and this will only push his buttons harder to win this game the next time his team is in it.

For whatever cruel reason, it just wasn't meant to be for Cornell on this Memorial Day, although 56 minutes of action had us believing that perhaps it was.

Now, with this historic 11th title won in historic fashion, Syracuse finds itself alone on top of the lacrosse mountain. Not that it needed numbers to validate that claim, but 11 national titles ends any and all debate about who the greatest program in the sport's history is.

The 2009 season was supposed to be a season all about what Syracuse didn't have. No face-off threat. No more Leveille. No more Brooks. Sure, they had Sid Smith, but what else did they have on defense?

What they have is a national championship. What they have is one of the great games in SU, and perhaps the entire sport's history, on its resume. What they have is the heart of a champion.